Letter

Dennis Nichols has written "Letters to the Editor" in the last two issues stating his side of the story regarding the taking of some (not a huge amount) of his property for road improvement. The area we're talking about is 147th St. north of Parallel.

To get the whole story correct, I have to say that Dennis is a really nice person but he has become obsessed with this ordeal involving his share of a road right-of-way needed to improve the road in front of his property. He failed to tell you all the elements that have gone into trying to get him to agree as to the value of this property which contains only 10 feet deep by 208.7 feet wide, a piece of property that is 1 acre more or less in size. That's only .0479 of an acre. Less than five hundredths of an acre. I personally have talked to Mr. Nichols in the past where he expressed his desire to have the road in front of his house improved and MONEY was not the factor. Well Dah! If the giving of a small piece of ground for an appraised value is not the issue, then what is it?

Mr. Nichols apparently thinks a piece of ground 10 ft. x 208 ft. is worth the same prorated value as a full acre of ground. WRONG!

I am on the City Council and have sat in on the sessions where we discussed what would have been fair market value if it were a full acre of ground. Fair offers were made, all of which were denied by Mr. Nichols. He personally told me that MONEY was not the issue. Money is not the issue but you won't accept an appraised fair market value? Well, what is the real issue, Mr. Nichols? Apparently you want us to give you the same amount of money for a 10-foot-wide strip of r-o-w as if it were a full acre. Well, it happens to be my money and all the other taxpayers' money we're dealing with here, Mr. Nichols.